Since Israel’s latest invasion of Lebanon in September, migrant workers are once again fearing for their safety. The majority of African workers come from Ethiopia, Sudan, Sierra Leone and Kenya and many have lived through, survived or fled a war in their home countries. ‘Also, under the kafala sponsorship system employers can confiscate workers’ documents – such as passports – and prevent them from leaving the house or changing jobs without permission. This means that in recent months workers have become trapped in Lebanon. The UN’s Special Rapporteur on migrants in Africa has called on African countries to urgently introduce measures for the repatriation of migrant workers. 

The racism that allows the world to stand by while Gaza is almost erased is knitted from the same cloth as that which dehumanizes African women migrants in Lebanon and elsewhere, 

‘These people do not care about us. To them, we are like working machines. My friends were denied entry at shelters because they are not Lebanese,’ Kenyan domestic worker Regina Blessing Kyalo, told Deutsche Welle.

It’s not the first time employers have been quick to discard migrants during a crisis. For instance, when Covid-19 arrived in 2020 hundreds of domestic workers were left stranded with no documents or pay when the country closed its borders and households closed their gates. Then in August that year, when a catastrophic explosion in Beirut killed more than 220 people, many migrant workers, mainly women, were again left on the streets.

For the last four years, Lebanese groups like the Anti-Racism Movement have continuously called for more humane labour contractual systems, the end of discrimination and ill-treatment of all migrant workers, and the abolition of kafala.

 

Still, the system endures and we can’t ignore the fact that racism is a significant factor. The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has noted that kafala is a source of discrimination and violence, highlighting Lebanon’s lack of clear legislation that defines racial discrimination.

The racism that allows the world to stand by while Gaza is almost erased is knitted from the same cloth as that which dehumanizes African women migrants in Lebanon and elsewhere.

And it’s not just Lebanon; we saw Black and Asian people discriminated against as they joined those trying to escape Ukraine following Russia’s February 2022 invasion.

It is always the right time to speak about racism, even in war, even in genocide. It’s precisely at these points of complete inhumanity that those who are seen and treated daily as non-human are entirely forgotten. New Internationalist